Dark Castle of the Mind
by Cearlya
Summary: This is for anyone who's parents ever told them that what they saw in the shadows couldn't hurt them. ROC, HG, DHr
1. Leavings and New Beginings

_It was honestly amazing how only one decision could change the course of your entire life_. Kariama Mason wrote, blowing a lock of curling black hair out of her eyes. _Especially one as seemingly innocuous as which house to be in._

Chapitre I

Leavings and New Beginnings

It was a Wednesday, and the train was leaving the station, the scarlet engine at the platform 9 and 3/4 tooting it's horn for the students to board. At that moment, one student would have given everything she owned to not get on that train. Kariama Mason, youngest daughter of the Mason clan of nine children, never wanted to go to a school. She wanted to stay at home with her tutors and read, leaving the world and it's cruelties outside the walls of her ancestral home.

Kariama's black hair blew around her face as she put her luggage on the train, the butler and the house elf holding her things tightly. She turned to them, her curly hair blowing furiously around her, making her look like an archangel of death, coming after prey. "I don't want to go." Her voice was soft, but had a strained edge to it. Her butler, with his eyes looking suspiciously moist, just held out his arms. Daris and Goddy, the only two creatures who ever cared about her were these people and they enfolded her in their embrace. Not her parents, not her sisters and brothers, not any familial attached member, but a servant and a supposedly substandard creature.

She fell into Daris' arms and Goddy clutched her leg, both of them shedding no few tears. The whistle sounded and Daris pulled away. He pulled out his handkerchief and dried her eyes with it, and then placed it in her hand.

"Use this, not your sleeve, play nice with the other children and don't tear your clothes, I won't be there to sew them up for you. If any of the children give you a hard time, sic that cousin that's marginally fond of you on them. The Malfoy's are always good for an interesting revenge spell." Goddy clung to her leg.

"Bite, don't hit, use that new stitch that I showed you, and mind your manners." Goddy said, stroking her leg with a long finger. "And claw," he added thoughtfully. "You may claw as well."

"Thank you...Both of you." Daris took her head in his hands and kissed the top of her head.

"Be safe." Daris said, pushing a lock of her hair away from her face.

"I will..." She said, rumpling Goddy's hair.

"Now scat." Daris said, giving her a light smack on the rear to get her going, just as he had done every day to get her to go out and play. She held her books tightly to her chest, put her chin in the air, and strode forward. She didn't let a speck of her fear show in her face. She entered the train, tugged slightly on her knee-highs and sat down. She was alone, one of the only ones that was so, having entered late because of her parents. Everyone else was standing or sitting in a circle of friends, the green ties with the green ties, scarlet with scarlet and the other two were mixed, not really staying separated. She had read about the four houses. Griffindors, loyal, strong, proud; Hufflepuff, slow, dependable, toilsome, Ravenclaw smart, intelligent, studious. And Slytherin, her ancestral house. Cunning, amoral, and utterly, utterly sinister.

Slytherin, where she belonged, but did not want to be. She was a child of the Great House of Mason, deserving all the capitals it could be given, one of the oldest houses of purebloods. Muggle haters and torturers galore. Politicians and murderers, lovers and haters and a long corrupt line of wizards that stretches back into the ages. Kari sighed.

She pulled her legs up onto the train benches and loosely linked her hands behind her knees, watching the other students with their games of Exploding snap and Wizard's chess. Eventually, bored out of her mind, she got up, slinging her bag over her chest, and tugging on her knee socks again._ Honestly, how did one keep these dreadful things up? _She sighed and wiggled her feet in her constricting shoes as she went from one end of the train to the other, searching for someone, anyone that she knew. Tears burned her eyes as she was swamped by a wave of loneliness and her footsteps quickened as she began to run, still looking desperately for someone she knew. She ran through the last door and slammed strait into a large wall.

She fell down, her legs slipped and she was on the ground, staring up at the ceiling.

It was a pretty ceiling.

"Ron!" A shocked female voice yelped, and a slim white hand came out of no where to help her to her feet. Kari took it and got to her feet, quickly rubbing the heels of her hands over her eyes to erase any trace that she had been crying.

"Are you alright?" A soft voice, a light baritone, and a pair of brown eyes filled with concern looked down at her. She looked up and for a moment, lost her voice.

He was a boy with the look of one that has grown into his gangliness, and long nose. He could just barely look out under his longish red hair that had a tendency to fall into his eyes. He had the lightly muscular build of a Quidditch player who worked out almost every day. Kari honestly was speechless, staring up at the six foot five boy in front of her.

"It's okay, I know he's a lot bigger than most people are used to, I know. Ron, sit down, you're going to give the poor girl a heart attack." The girl had a large pile of bushy hair, even curlier than Kari's. Kari almost felt sorry for her except for she also had the same problem of hair that wanted to crawl off on it's own and have an independent existence. Her voice was slightly bossy and overbearing for someone as shy as Kari. "My name is Hermione Granger. I don't believe I remember you, which house are you in?" Kari's mouth opened and closed a few times without any sound.

"Hush Hermione, I think you're scaring her." The red head said, and a dark haired brooding boy stood up in the seat next to her.

"I think Ron's right for once." Ron stuck his tongue out at his friend, and Kari shrunk back. The black haired boy carried on, sticking out a hand. "My name's Harry Potter, what's yours?" He asked and she put her small hand in his.

"Kariama Mason, youngest daughter of the Mason clan." She said shaking his hand. Ron choked.

"The Mason clan?" He asked, the tips of his ears turning red. Hermione put a hand to her mouth and Harry looked confused.

"If you're talking about the one with enough money to buy a country and enough ego to fill an ocean, then yes. That Mason." Kari said, getting into her stride now that she had found friendly people. She wasn't that antisocial, just a little shy and unsure of herself.

"Ummmm..."The red color flushed from his ears to cross his cheeks and Hermione looked away. "I think your kind is two cars that way." He waved a hand opposite of where she had entered. "I'm Ron Weasley." Kari looked at him for a moment.

"Is my...kind...not supposed to mix with your family?" Kari asked, her dark eyes alight strangely.

"Ummm...no." Hermione piped up. "You should probably be up with the other Slytherins."

"Will I be a Slytherin?" She asked vaguely, and then refocused. "Do you think that talking to you will make my family angry?" She asked, reaching down to pull up a sock absently.

"Absolutely." Ron said, nodding his head sadly.

"Ok...Lets be friends then." She smiled brilliantly at him and sat down on a bench across from them. Harry, Hermione and Ron shared a close three-way glance.

"Are you a first year, because you look a little old to be eleven, but with the girls these days..." Harry trailed off, a misty eyed look on his face until Hermione kicked him. Ron rolled his eyes and cast a quick _silencio_ spell.

"She was thirteen, but stop being a git about every girl who asks for your autograph, pedophile!" Hermione practically shrieked and Harry had the grace to at least blush.

"She was cute." He mumbled, turning a bright red.

"She was THIRTEEN!" Hermione shrieked, and Kari muffled a giggle. Ron turned to her and winked, then pulled a long-suffering look. Apparently this had been a topic of discussion for a long time.

"It was only three years!" Harry said, under his breath. Hermione inflated with rage.

"THREE YEARS IS A LONG TIME YOU PEDOPHILE!!!" She shrieked, advancing on Harry in a fit of riteous rage.

"Yeah, I mean, first that thing with Cho, a year older man, I mean come on...And now much younger women, like this girl..." Ron said, and Hermione nodded primly along with him. "Why don't you go out with someone who's you're own age, like say...." He paused for a moment for dramatic effect. Hermione was still nodding along with him. "Hey, you could go out with Hermione!" Hermione stopped nodding. They both turned to him.

"WHAT?!" They turned to look at each other with shocked faces. "EWWWWW! GROSSSS!" They both jumped away from each other and Ron collapsed next to Kari who was watching it all with wide eyes and chewing on a fingernail.

"See? It's wonderful when you know two people so well that when you say one thing, it gets them both to shut up." Hermione and Harry weren't listening, but rather going on rather detailed rants why they didn't want to go out with the other one. He flashed a grin at her and tossed his hair out of his eyes. "So. Why don't you want to get along with your family." Kari's grin faded and her eyes got a steely glint.

"They're sending me away." She said succinctly, kicking her foot against the bottom of the bench. "They're afraid that Lord Voldemort-" Ron and Hermione jumped at the use of his name, but Harry remained curiously still. "Will come and ask for our family's support and I will embarrass them. So they decided to send me where there are other nasty little children who have been raised the same as me where I can hopefully pick up some suitably nasty habits like pulling the wings off of flies and torturing small children." She said, the kicking of her feet increasing exponentially in rapidity and force.

"Ah. Don't get along with the Mum and Da huh?"

"I was raised by the butler and the house elf, I don't think that my parents ever came into the picture unless they wanted something from me."

"How dreadful!" Hermione cried, sitting down next to her. Harry sat on the bench opposite, stretching out his legs in front of him.

"Not entirely. I did have one cousin that I rather liked, he was quiet fun around the house." Kari said queitly, now picking at the chair's loose ends.

"Well well well...The potty, the weasle and the hedgehog. How absolutely ecstatic we are to- Kari!" Draco Malfoy had thrown open the door and now was stopped, looking white with shock. Crabbe and Goyle were looming behind him and when they stepped forward, pleased smiles crept over thier faces. Kari smiled and jumped up, and Draco held out his arms.

"Draco! They threw me out to go to school!" She fell into his arms and he gave her a quick hug.

"How dreadful. Now you have to spend time with me. I shall ever be depressed." Draco said with a cheerful voice and then looked over at the other three and turned sour again. "But whatever are you doing in their company? They are much beneath you." Malfoy looked down at the three as they all got wearily to their feet. They were getting tired of Malfoy. Kari blinked.

"Actually their fun. And we're standing on the same floor, so how can they be beneath me?" Kari asked with an impish smile. Draco's face turned into a thundercloud, but Kari didn't seem worried. "Hullo Vincent," She jumped to give him a hug. He blushed a bright red, and patted her on the back, and she moved on to give Goyle the same treatment. "Hullo Gregory!" She turned to the three Griffindors. "These three are the only good thing about the entire first part of my life." Harry, Ron and Hermione were looking at her in shock that she could bear to touch those _things._ Then she dropped the bomb.

"Come and say hello!" she said, her eyes glowing with happiness. She had found her friends.

"Ummm...." Said Ron, trying to think of a way to break it to her gently that there was a better chance of hell freezing over than him and his friends saying a civil hello to Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. When no one volunteered, she prodded Malfoy. Malfoy gave her a look that clearly read 'No-way,-nuh-uh-not-even-if-you-set-my-knickers-on-fire-but-maybe-if-you-messed-up-my-hair', but she ignored it and kicked him in the shins.

"I'll tell your mother that you're passionately in love with Crabbe if you don't." Crabbe choked, but Malfoy's eyes misted over.

"You are such a Slytherin, using blackmail already! I've taught you so well. I was fearing that you would go into Ravenclaw after all." Malfoy said, wiping an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye and then remembered who his audience was and sneered.

"Maaaaalfoyyyy..." Kari uttered in a soft, but threatening voice. Crabbe and Goyle laughed slowly at their friend's discomfort. Malfoy sighed and shook his head, muttering something under his breath relating to having to take a dozen showers to ever get clean again.

"Alright, but only for you. Hullo Weasley-"

"His name's Ron."

"-Don't push your luck, Weasley it stays. And top of the morning to you, Granger, you're beauty sets my heart a flutter and sets my netheregions all tingly like you're bushy hair that seems to be-"

"Stop it Malfoy." Draco blinked innocently at her.

"I tell only the truth. And Harry, should I address you and your scar as two people, and if two, can I call it Bob?"

"Malfoy..."Kari said, then her expression grew thoughtful. "Rhinestones." She said smiling mischievously. Draco struggled with shock as it was imbred into the Malfoy's not to be shocked, but Crabbe and Goyle started laughing again. Malfoy sighed again.

"Good morning have a nice day now I'm getting out of here before she starts talking about things she has no right to and I am disgraced forever. "Malfoy blew all that out in a rush and then backpedaled out of the room. They could hear him say as he left, 'I swear she had forgotten that. Bloody unfair really...'

All three Griffindors were looking at her suspiciously. Kari scuffed her foot against the carpet and didn't look up into their accusatory eyes. "Draco is the only cousin who actually liked me, so we spent a lot of time together."

"He's a git." Ron said coldly, blowing his red hair out of his eyes.

"He's not so bad, once you get to know him." Kari said, looking hopeful.

"We've known him since he was eleven, I doubt that he gets better. The best we have to hope for is for him not to call insults at you across the room." Hermione said, patiently exasperated.

"That's how you tell he likes you is he starts picking on you." Kari said absently, plunking down with her book bag in front of her. Hermione looked at with interest.

"What do you have in there?" Hermione asked, her eyes imperceptively widening as her booklust was awakened. Kari peered inside.

_"_Ummm... Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, Most Potente Potions, and Hogwarts; A history."

"You've read, Hogwarts: A history?" Hermione asked, looking almost shocked. Kari focused in on her.

"I figured that everyone else would know a lot about Hogwarts and I'd kinda be left in the dark so I've been doing a little light reading." At this remark, Harry and Ron exchanged a glance over her head as she pulled the heavy tome out of the spelled sack. Daris had made it for her and spelled it so that it didn't weigh any heavier than five pounds, no matter how much she put in it, and size didn't matter either. As long as she could fit a little bit of it in there, it was shrunk immediately into a miniature size and kept in stasis. Hermione laughed.

"That's alright, these two have been here for six years and they still don't believe that you can't enter Hogwarts with a broom. " Kari frowned.

"But Hogwarts: A history clearly states that on page 1099 that all brooms are subject to the blocking charm on the gates and walls that make it impossible to ride a broomstick on to the premises." Ron and Harry's eyebrows shot up, but Hermione merely looked pleased.

"However it does say that the headmaster can remove the blocking charm in cases of emergancy on page 1134."

"Are you sure you're not going to be a Ravenclaw?" Ron asked, looking suprised, cutting their discussion short.

"I don't know." Kari said, looking worried.

"Ah well, whatever happens, happens." Harry said, sitting down and going back to brooding.

They spent the rest of the ride playing exploding snap until Ron and Hermione had to go for the Prefects meeting. They had skivved off patrolling the corridors and stayed and kept him company instead. Harry and Kari sat in an almost uncomfortable silence for a moment and Harry was opening his mouth to say something when Ginny burst in with Neville.

"Harry! How was your summer?" She asked, beaming up at him. She looked around and her face dropped a little as she saw the pretty black haired girl.

"Good, erm great." Harry said absently, noticing Ginny's attention of the new girl. Kari was reading Hogwarts: A History while it was spread over her knees, but she had looked up when the bright haired girl entered. "Ginny, this is Kari, Kari, this is Ginny. She's Ron's little sister." He nodded towards the plump boy who came with her. "And this is Neville." Kari dropped into a little curtsey.

"I'm pleased to meet you." She said, and Ginny looked as though she was trying not to smile. Neville put down the plant that he was carrying around and gave her his hand.

"Neville Longbottom." He said, and Kari put her small hand into his. Her eyes grew wide.

"Longbottom?" She asked clasping his hand warmly. "I'm sorry. You look just like your mum." Neville looked at her in shock for a moment and then nodded his head. When he spoke again, his voice was strained.

"Thank you." He gave her a slight smile and she smiled back, sitting back down. Kari went back to reading Howarts, A History and Harry rolled his eyes. She reminded him a lot of Hermione, bushy hair, incredibly nerdy but in a good way...Then he turned to Ginny. Bright, but not too intelligent, easy on the eyes, a smart mouth and a mischievous grin that had come from hanging out with Fred and George for so long. They all settled down to playing Exploding Snap when the train pulled up at Hogwarts.

"Oy! You there." It was Lee Jordan, a seventh year, and Fred and George's best friend. He came rushing up and grabbed the back of Kari's robes. She stopped and looked back with a curious look on her face. "Hagrid says Dumbledore tells you to take the carriages in, but to go directly to Professor McGonagell so she can sort you into your house in private." Kari smiled at him and pulled her robes strait. If it were anyone else, her actions would have seemed impossibly rude, but it just seemed as though she had meant to do that all along instead.

"Ok." She said and climbed into the carriage with Harry, Ginny and Neville. Hermione and Ron rushed up later to climb in at the last moment, chattering away with Harry as they planned what was to happen that year. The carriages stopped in front of Hogwarts and they all piled out and Ron, who was in front of her, bowed roguishly and offered a hand. Kari giggled and accepted it as he helped her out of the carriage. Hermione and Harry followed after them, exchanging an odd glance.

"Kariama?" McGonagall's clipped voice rang out over the hubbub and Kari looked up.

"That's me." Kari said, putting up a trembling hand.

"Come this way." McGonagall strode off, and Kari looked anxiously at her friends.

"Go on." Ron said, flapping his hands at her and she ran a little to catch up to the teacher.

"Each of the Four Houses have their own merits, and based on those merits, it is decided where you will be placed." McGonagall said briskly, holding the door open for her. Kari scampered into the room and there was a hat sitting on a stool. "Come quickly now, Dumbledore is saying the announcements instead of Sorting first because he needs the hat." Kari sat down carefully on the stool, and McGonagall, without any ceremony at all, dumped the hat on her head.

_Interesting._ The hat mumbled in her ear. She jumped and gave a little squeak, almost falling off of the stool. _Brains, yes, intelligence, yes, ooohhh a nice lack of solid morals, a little lacking in common sense, oh well, better make it..._

_Not-_ Kari started.

"SLYTHERIN!"

_-that..._

_oh well..._

_Trust me girl, that's where you belong. Those people are likely to foster what is growing inside of you, rather than squelch it like the Ravenclaws will. _ The hat said, it's voice stern. _Now give me back to McGonagall and she and I will have a little chat. For the moment, go to the Slytherin comman room, but tell any Griffindor that you're a Ravenclaw. Stay out of the mealtimes and keep playing with Harry and them. Dumbledore has something up his sleeve and it would be a pity to ruin it. _Kari's hands were shaking when the hat finally fell silent, and she handed it back to McGonagall who was watching her with piercing eyes. She took the hat off and handed it to McGonagall who left her and walked briskly towards the Great Hall once again. Kari trailed afterward and then paused as she remembered the hat's words.

"Are you lost dearie?" One of the paintings asked, it was a nice lady in aqua silk. "The Great Hall is strait down this hall through the big double doors." The lady nodded her head towards the doors down the hall.

"Ummm, I've been told to skip the feast and to go strait to the Slytherin comman room, can you tell me where that is?" Kari asked, tugging on one of her knee socks in agitation.

"Oh." The lady said thoughtfully. She then brightened. "Follow me." She took off through the picture frames and Kari had to run to keep up. She really wasn't paying attention to where she was going as long as she kept that aqua silk in front of her. Pretty soon she was at a stone wall in between two portraits of imposing men who looked down on her. The girl in the aqua silk winked at her and then both her and the man on the right vanished. Kari looked at the door for a moment and then pushed on the wall.

A door opened in the middle of the wall, and green and firelight spilled out into the hall. The fire looked comforting after the roils of the day and she collapsed in front of it. After a moment, she got back up and looked up the staircase labled girls. She dragged herself up the steps, up and into the room labeled 5th years. On her bed she found a sealed envelope and dinner, with as much food as she probably would have eaten downstairs, and her trunks were stowed at the end of her bed. After pulling out Hogwarts, A History to read while she ate, Kari fell upon her food, wishing she could have eaten in the Great Hall. Just as she was finishing up, there were footsteps on the stairs and her plate and goblet vanished.

When the door opened, there were four girls standing there looking very surprised.

"Erm. Hello, my name is Kariama Mason, and I'm new to Hogwarts." Kari said quietly, looking down at her hands. The girls looked at each other in shock. A Mason? Here? One of the girls recovered and stuck her hand out.

"My name's Saraina Graeth, but everyone calls me Sarai." Kari took it and the next girl held out her hand.

"My name's Myriam Himble." Kari shook that one as well.

"Mine's Alyssa Roy," The third one only nodded as she was changing into her night clothes.

"And I'm Brangienne Wynne." The last girl was laying out her clothes for tomorrow, her uniform looking exceptionally crisp. Immediately after the formalities were out of the way, the girls settled down to gossip.

"Did you _see_ Draco? I swear, he becomes more handsome every year!" Brangienne squealed, jumping onto her bed. Myriam leapt into hers as well.

"I _know_! And Harry, Gryffindor that he is, is looking rather delicious. And _Ron_, I know his family's like, dirt poor, but really. I'm almost willing to put up with that for those _shoulders_. Can you imagine what it'd be like to have his arms around you? What do you think?" All the girls turned to Kari expectantly.

"Well, Draco's my cousin..." She said quietly. "And I like Harry's eyes, but there's just something about Ron. I don't know what it is..." She trailed off, her eyes misty. The other four girls shared a glance.

"Ooooo...Sounds like somebody had a cruuuuuuuuuushhhh..." The girls squealed, all of them jumping onto Kari's bed. Myriam's eyes were glowing. "Spill, all the juicy gossip."

"Well," Kari considered for a moment. "I was on the train and I wasn't paying attention to where I was and I ran into him. I bounced on the floor and then spent the rest of the ride with him, Hermione and Harry." The girls' faces fell.

"Yuck Hermione." Brangienne said, making a face.

"I think it's completely unfair that she gets both of those gorgeous boys all to herself." Sarai complained.

"Share the wealth I say." Alyssa stuck her nose in the air and Sarai hit her with a pillow.

"Oh like you'd ever share." Myriam retorted.

"Neither of them like Hermione that way." Kari's soft voice made them stop.

"Seriously?" Asked Sarai.

"Ummm I don't think so." Kari said, playing with the fringe on her pillow. That set off a round of squeals.

"Can you _imagine_ the looks on the Gryffindor's faces if one of us goes out with Harry?" Alyssa said, breathless.

"Not to mention what Hermione would do!" Brangienne crowed, a evil grin on her face. Footsteps sounded on the stairs.

"Whoops lights out." Myriam said and they all dove for their respective beds. The footsteps paused outside of their room and then carried on. By the time they had vanished completely, all five girls were fast asleep.


	2. Classes and Divulgences

Ok, so its been a like a couple of weeks since last updated, and I forgot my disclaimer:

I own an army, a passle of souls and a harem of beautiful men, however, I do not own Harry Potter or anyone written about in the books…

I do own Kari, Brangienne, Alyssa, Myrim and Sarai…no stealing…

Chapitre II

Classes and Divulgences

When Kari woke up in the morning, the sun had still not risen, but remained a promise behind the horizon. She could still hear the deep breathing of the other girls and so rose, dressed and took the unopened letter from last night while she headed down to breakfast.

When she reached to Great Hall, it was nearly deserted, a scattering of people were at the Ravenclaw table, and the rest of the tables were empty. Kari picked a seat at the Ravenclaw place and was ignored by the bleary eyed occupants. She started eating her breakfast and opened the envelope. It was her schedule. She scanned it, noticing that her Arithmacy, Anchient Runes and Transfiguration classes were all doubled with Ravenclaw while she had Transfiguration and Care of Magical Creatures with Gryfffindors. She sighed and readied herself for her first class of Arithmacy with Proffessor Vector. She shoveled the remaining food into her mouth and rose, trudging off to her class to get some last minute studying in before she went to class.

Having finished the section of Hogwarts, A History where they describe all of the staircases, she was only delayed by two, the one that you had to wait for the right cycle before you could go anywhere and the one that you had to stroke the banister the whole way or it dropped you knee deep into the stair. She was waiting almost fifteen minutes until a Ravenclaw girl came by to pull her out.

"Which class do you have" She asked briskly, tossing her black plait over her shoulder. She wasn't very friendly, but then again, neither were many people towards the Slytherins.

"Arithmacy with Proffessor Vector." Kari said, pulling up her knee socks from where they had fallen down. The Ravenclaw giggled.

"You know you can tighten the top of those so they don't fall down all the time." The Ravenclaw giggled and showed her where to pull on the cord so it tightened to keep itself up. "My name's Padma Patil." The girl said, straitening up and smiling.

"Mines Kari." She said, not volunteering her last name. Padma nodded, her face blank as she tried to place Kari. "I'm new." She offered, tightening the other sock.

"Oh, well, I have Arithmacy as well, so you can come and sit with me." Padma offered, striding off down the hall. Kari followed her and Padma kept up a string of endless chatter that Kari was only half listening to. When they got to the Arithmacy room, Padma took a seat in the middle of a bunch of other Ravenclaw girls that were sixth years as well and Kari felt very young and very Slytherin.

"This is Kari, she's a new Ravenclaw who's a year younger than us." Padma said and Kari jumped. She was a Slytherin! The girls descended in a flock, all of them proclaiming how 'precious' she looked in her little uniform. Kari opened her mouth to say that she was a Slytherin and nothing came out. She closed it again, looking irritated.

Something strange was going on indeed.

"Class, order" Professor Vector said, clapping his hands. They all settled down and class began. It was one of the hardest Arithmacy classes she had ever had and she actually had to pay attention instead of being able to let her mind wander like she normally did. Arithmacy came easy for her, always had, and now she had to work to get it. She wasn't sure she liked this feeling. Padma came with her as she went to go get her Potions books, but left before she got to the Slytherin comman room by being called over by a pretty girl with long black hair, her twin sister.

"I'll see you later" Padma called, and vanished with her sister. Kari again touched to wall to gain access into the comman room, but nothing happened. She frowned and touched it again, but still nothing happened. Footsteps sounded behind her and a girl she recognized as Morag came up behind her.

"Forgot the password" Morag asked, her smile stretching wide but not quite reaching her eyes.

"Yes."

"Late for your class"

"Not really." Morag seemed to pause after this.

"How much will you give me to get you the password" She asked, drawling like Draco. She was horrible at it, but the drawl did give Kari an idea. She took Daris' advice.

"Nothing, I'll just wait here until my cousin Draco comes by...And then I'll tell him how you made a poor girl like me stand in the cold corridor and catch a cold." Draco's temper with people who were cruel to the younger Slytherin's was fierce. "And then I'll tell him that you're in love with Harry Potter." And then again, blackmail always works. Morag's face was surprised and then angry.

"_Pride_." She hissed and the door opened. Morag stalked in and Kari followed. So, implying that Morag liked Potter touched a nerve...Interesting. Maybe she wasn't the only Slytherin who liked a Gryffindor. She filed that away for future use and then gathered her Potions books and headed off to the dungeons. She had met Professor Snape on one occasion, when he had visited her parents and he had then been found out to be a spy for Dumbledore. This class was not a double class, it was only Slytherins from her year, but it was both boys and girls. She was obviously late, seeing as the rest of the class was sitting down and Snape was up at the front of the class, calling role. He looked up sharply as she entered and she quietly went to a seat in the back by herself. The four girls in her room turned back and looked at her reproachfully for coming in late.

"You must be Kariama Mason. For anyone who's been here for more than a year knows not to come to my class late." Snape said darkly. Kariama weighed all possible responses in her mind and then remembered how Snape had reacted when her mother had started crying at the dinner table. Kari sobbed.

"I-I'm sorry

Professor, I-I didn't know the password, someone let me in last night and I tried to get my books and no one was around an-an -an" Kari said all of this in a panicked voice and then broke down crying. She took out Daris' handkerchief that he gave her and started really crying. She missed Daris, and Goddy and only having Daris teach her and him making her go out and play when she would rather study. She was not expecting that such a cathartic release would take away the tension that she didn't know was there.

"There erm. there..." Snape said, looking uncomfortable. The girls in the room were now looking at him reproachfully for making her cry. "Just take a seat, it's your first day, I'm sure we can excuse it this time." He waved her to sit down and she did, sniffling. She was sitting next to a Slytherin boy whom she didn't pay any attention to as Snape continued on with his class, slightly off balance from her performance. "We'll start the day by making a Strengthening Solution, all right everyone, get your materials out." Kari spent the rest of the period making the solution, and for someone who's worst class was potions, her Solution was great. It was only green when it was supposed to be blue instead of a bright shocking pink like it normally was.

"Dismissed." Snape said, flapping his hands at them. Kari gathered her stuff and fled, wanting to get lunch before anyone else did. Rather than stopping at her room, she stuffed it all in her bag, grabbed a sandwich and a drink from the Gryffindor table which was the closest and headed off to the library. The library was quiet and Kari stood in the doorway for a moment, drinking in the smell of old books. She smiled, closing her eyes and she could pretend that she was home. Any minute now her father would burst through that door looking for another book to help him hex someone and she would hand it to him without looking up from her Arithmacy book.

"Hey! Kari" A voice jolted her out of her wanderings and a book fell off of the shelf next to her. Madam Pince gave her a glare as she came out from behind her desk to replace it. Kari looked around to see where the voice was coming from. It was Ron's and he was sitting with Harry and Hermione. Kari drew closer and joined them.

"Hey Kari" Ron said, grinning at her and she gave him a shy smile back.

"Hallo Kari" Hermione said, beaming at her. She had a large book on her knees and Harry didn't look up, he was engrossed in his writing.

"Hermione! You stopped reading..." Harry looked up frantically and then noticed Kari. "Oh, hallo Kari."

"Harry forgot to get his summer assignment finished for Snape's class." Ron explained, eyes were laughing.

"I've only got two more inches." Harry protested. "Hermione, keep reading." Hermione rolled her eyes but obeyed, reading the passage about Mandragora potions.

"So how was your first day so far" Ron asked, ignoring as Harry and Hermione bickered about a fact in the book.

"It's okay. I went to Arithmacy and then was late to Potions because I forgot the password to my comman room." Both Harry and Hermione stopped what they were doing and looked up.

"And you're still alive" Harry asked incredulously.

"Snape started yelling at me and I cried. He's terribly unnerved if a girl cries." Hermione looked as if her birthday had just come early but Ron and Harry looked disgruntled.

"Lucky duck." Harry said, his voice dark. Kari looked down at her watch.

"Well, I've got to go, I've got Ancient runes and you'd better start cracking on that essay, you've got ten minutes until class." Kari got up, waved goodbye and they waved back except for Harry, who was scribbling furiously.

"One. More. Bloody. Line" Harry said viciously.

"Harry! Language" Hermione's shocked voice followed Kari out.

The rest of her classes went normally and strangely enough, all of the Slytherins knew she was a Slytherin, but all of the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors thought she was a Ravenclaw. And in double classes with Ravenclaws, she was almost always ignored by the Ravenclaws, it was almost like they didn't even know she was there. Meals she snatched on the run for fear of being found out and asked questions and finally after two days, she decided it had to stop. She went to the head of her House.

"I want to talk to Professor Dumbledore now" She threw her books on the table and Snape looked up with mild surprise.

"May I inquire as to the reason for this request" Snape asked, his black eyes annoyed.

"That's between him and me." Kari said, her eyes furious as she had been pushed past the breaking point.

"That's not a good enough reason." He now looked only mildly irritated, and it seemed as though it was only because she was interrupting his personal time than anything else. Kari closed her eyes for a moment and prayed for patience.

"There are some strange things going on at Hogwarts. And they involve me and I think that Dumbledore knows about them and they are driving me crazy." Snape looked at her with sudden interest.

"Do they involve Harry Potter" He asked his voice dripping with pleasure.

"Why would they involve him" Kari asked, momentarily distracted by surprise.

"Because I have found out that sooner or later everything involves Harry Potter. And every time he manages to squirm out of trouble." Kari was taken aback by the venom in Snape's voice.

"Well" Kari thought for a moment. "It might involve Harry, that's why I have to talk to the Headmaster." She felt sort of dirty for playing off of Snape's weakness, but then again, she excused herself, she was a Slytherin...

"All right, follow me." Snape swept off, and she picked up her bag again. He lead her down a large corridor to a door with two gargoyles in front of it. Kari looked around her with interest as Snape marched up to the Gargoyles. "Sherbet Lemon." He said briskly and motioned her in. "I'll go find the headmaster. Sit down and don't touch anything." He left.

Kari looked around with avid interest, noticing the beautiful phoenix and the headmasters on the walls. They glared down at her, obviously thinking that she was some sort of rule breaker. Then her eyes alighted on the hat. It was the Sorting Hat and just the thing she needed to talk to at the moment. She picked it up and put it on her head.

_Wha? Oh, you. Hello._ It said, and she could hear it's annoyance at being woken up.

_Hello. Could you please tell me what is going on?_ Kari asked, her voice stretched with annoyance her self.

_No. Not my business to. Dumbledore will tell you what you need to know, and until then, I was currently thinking of a rhyme for before. Can you think of one?_

_You're not telling me anything, I'm not telling you anything. _Kari snarled, feeling perturbed and just faintly childishly rebellious. She snatched the hat off of her head and put it back. She found a globe on Dumbledore's desk and picked it up to look at it. It was a little miniature girl inside with brown hair in pigtails and she was hugging another girl with red hair. The girl looked an awful lot like the woman in the globe next to it. She picked that one up next. The woman winked and blew a kiss at her before turning back to her conversation with the young man. There were little gold letters stamped on the ball at the bottom and if she just squinted like-

"You have an interesting way of not touching things." Dumbledore's quiet voice disrupted her concentration and she jumped, looking sheepish. She replaced the globe where she had found it and sat back down. Dumbledore gave her a smile, went over to his desk and picked up the globe himself. "My daughter. Lauriana Dumbledore and her husband." He smiled fondly at the globe next to it. "And my granddaughter with her best friend." He caught her quizzical look. "I adopted Lauriana, I never married." He said, smiling gently. Somehow she felt as though she had been granted a gift with that knowledge. "Now what did you need to speak with me so urgently about." The look on his face was unsurprised and she had a sneaking suspicion that he already knew.

"I think you already know sir." She asked, folding her hands in her lap.

"One can only assume that it has something to do with the fact that your badge is switching from Ravenclaw to Slytherin and giving me a headache." He said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Yes sir. And that every time I try tell a Ravenclaw that I'm a Slytherin, something stops me." Kari was leaning forward earnestly. "I'd like whatever's doing it to stop." Dumbledore was silent for a moment.

"Kari, you know that the Dark Lord has risen once again. Your family has been approached, and you think that is why you have come to Hogwarts. You would be wrong." Dumbledore sat down with his fingers steepled in front of his eyes. "Kari, you have come to Hogwarts to be a bridge. A bridge across the houses which are currently so divided that we sometimes have to keep Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy at opposite sides of the room to keep a fight from breaking out. We need these houses United and only you can do it." Kari opened her mouth to say something, but Dumbledore held up a hand. "Hear me out." She fell silent. "You have the intelligence of a Ravenclaw, and if not for the fact that we _need_ you in Slytherin, you would probably be in that house. However, we need you in Slytherin because you are a Mason, and in Slytherin, where the heirarchy of the blood is most important, you outrank everyone but Master Malfoy. You are liked by the Gryffindors because you are quick and you are loyal and they do not yet know of your prechance for lying."

"I do _not _have a perchance for lying" Kari protested. Dumbledore leveled his gaze at her and she shifted around in her seat uncomfortably. "I just like lying. It's a lot easier than telling the truth." Her eyes narrowed. "And who told you that" She asked angrily. She hadn't told any lies since getting to Hogwarts!

"I have been in correspondence with Daris since the day he was employed at your household." His voice was quiet, but his words struck her like a knife.

"Daris never cared about me did he." She asked dully, looking down at her hands.

"On the contrary. He cared about you too much." Dumbledore said, his voice soothing. "You were supposed to have an unhappy childhood and be glad to come to Hogwarts where you would make friends with everyone across the four houses and unite them. But Daris loves you like his own daughter and could not bear to see you unhappy, so he defied my plan and raised you to be a happy, well adjusted child with slight tendencies towards lying."

"I think I got the lying part from my parents not him." Kari said, looking up.

"Ah, your parents. The brilliant Masons, a family of purebloods that can trace their lineage back to the first witch and wizard without any muggle blood anywhere in their bloodlines. Also so inbred that they hardly produce daughters anymore. And don't value the ones that they do produce. You were a neglected child, pushed aside by your brothers and valued only for who you would get married to."

"Can we not talk about my family" Kari asked, her voice tight and her hands clenched in her lap. Her teeth hurt from where she clenched them as a surge of anger threatened.

"But your family has made you who you are. Ruthless, cold and filled with anger when you need to be. And it is your family who gives you power." Dumbledore said, his eyes now filled with sadness and pity.

"I don't need their power. I just want a normal life." She said, her teeth clenched. She looked up at Dumbledore angrily. "Something that your little 'plan' is messing up entirely."

"Child, you would never have a normal life, even if I didn't interfere. There are some things about you that are too extraordinary. Like Harry, you can either take charge and make your life interesting, or interesting things can happen you, and when destiny is forced to show it's hand, things can get dangerous." His eyes were fixed on her. "Are you willing to pay the price"

"I'm a Mason, I can pay any price." She said flippantly.

"But what if it isn't you that does the paying, but someone else" She opened her mouth to say 'well that's their lookout isn't it?' but then closed it again. "You can think on it, or if you'd rather, I can wipe your memory so you don't know what's going on and you can live your so called 'normal life.'" This was a generous offer. He was offering exactly what she wanted, there had to be something more.

"I think..." She paused for a moment. "That I'd like to be able to tell someone what is going on. Some Gryffindors should be able to know what's happening. And stop the Ravenclaws from thinking I'm a Ravenclaw...And whatever else happens, happens."

"Done." Dumbledore said putting out his hand over the table. She shook it, feeling very much like she had just made a deal with the devil.

She left Dumbledore's office feeling sort of dazed and went to the library to collect herself. Ginny was sitting at a table and Kari made a decision.

"Ginny, can I talk to you" Ginny and she had been hanging out in the library recently, Ginny to see Harry whom she had a huge crush on, and Kari because she liked books. And to see Ron, but she hoped Ginny hadn't picked up on that.

"Sure." Ginny said, putting down her book.

"And after what I'm going to tell you, you have to promise to still talk to me and not be mad." Ginny looked suspiciously at her, but nodded carefully

"Ummm, alright."

"Promise"

"Promise."

"I'm a Slytherin. Not a Ravenclaw." Ginny looked shocked for a moment.

"That's not funny." Ginny said carefully.

"It isn't a joke." Kari sighed.

"But I can see the badge on your chest its...wait, it's all blurry." Ginny squinted at it and she saw the recognition dawn on Ginny's face.

"You're a Slytherin" She almost shrieked, but she remembered where she was just in time.

"Yes."

"But how come I couldn't see the Slytherin badge before, it looked like a Ravenclaw badge" Ginny glared at her accusingly. "Did you change it so you could take points off of the Ravenclaws"

"No" Kari exclaimed and Madam Pince looked over at them disapprovingly. She lowered her voice. "Do you honestly think that I would do something so low" She asked disgusted.

"The Ravenclaw you? No. But as a Slytherin"

"I'm the same person" Kari exclaimed, exasperated.

"But as a Slytherin you have different ideals."

"No, I don't...Get a grip Ginny" Kari closed her eyes for a moment and counted to ten. "Ginny, being a Slytherin, I am no one different."

"Are you sure" Ginny asked, suspiciously. Kari gave her an exasperated look and she nodded. "Alright, but I just want to make sure that I'm not giving my brother up to a psychopathic killer or anything."

"You don't...what" Kari asked, completely taken aback.

"I've seen the way that you look at him" Ginny said, elbowing her friendlyish. "You want him, and I can tell that he likes you back. He's just a little afraid of losing Harry and Hermione as friends if he gets a girlfriend, he's waiting until one of them gets a significant other first." Kari's mouth was working, but she was in such shock that she wasn't saying anything. Ginny rolled her eyes. "My brother is such a git sometimes."

"He is not..." Kari protested weakly, still thrown by the fact that Ron may like her back. Ginny grinned at her.

"Yes he is." She tossed her red hair over her shoulder and sighed.

"But...so you're not mad at me" Kari asked in a quiet voice.

"How can I? You never lied to me, you just didn't correct me because you couldn't. It's not like it changes who you are." Ginny said, grinning impishly.

Kari left the library feeling as though she had a great weight lifted off of her shoulders. She practically skipped to her Charms class and she took her seat next to Myriam.

That night, Kari felt strange, and her skin was itchy as if she didn't quite fit in it. She scratched absently at her arm as her silver eyes closed.

_Darkness. A vague feeling of wrongness and something loosed from deep inside. A chaotic mansion filled with dark and twisted furniture, chairs that bite, doors that devour and an almost complete feeling of death darkness and pain. Kari ran, trying to find some other person in this oppressing building. Suddenly she was in Hogwarts, and there were two girls and a boy standing in front of her. They touched the mirror in front of them and vanished. _

Kari was being shaken and someone was screaming, a high-pitched fear filled scream. It took her a moment to figure out that it was her and she stopped, trembling. Her dark eyes looked around feverishly, not even noticing her disheveled and chaotic state.

"Kari" Brangienne was shaking her.

"Wha-what happened" Kari asked, her heart racing in some unknown fear.

"I think you were having a nightmare...you were thrashing in your sleep and screaming." Brangienne's face was concerned and the other girls were looking over her shoulder, their faces filled with interest.

"I-I don't know..." Kari said, her heart starting to slow and her trembling finally stopped.

"Should we tell Dumbledore" One of them asked, but Kari shook her head furiously.

"No" Kari yelled. She pulled herself under control. "No. It was just a nightmare. He doesn't need to know." She had a sneaking suspicion that all he would be able to say would be 'I told you so'. The girls went back to their own beds after giving her a couple of strange looks, and they quickly went back to sleep. Kari got up and went down to breakfast. Draco was up for once, reading a thick book at the breakfast table. Kari slid into the seat next to him. She looked down at her plate for a moment and began to push it around her plate with her fork.

"So, how is my favorite cousin's time at school going" Draco asked, smiling at her.

"Fine." Kari said shortly. She opened her mouth to tell him about the dreams, but then closed it again. It was probably a better idea if those were kept private. "Just fine."

"Been sleeping well? You've hardly touched your food." Draco said, his face filled with concern. Something inside of Kari snapped.

"There" She smashed her hands into her food. "There! I've touched it! Are you happy now" The Slytherin table looked at her in shock. She threw her bag over her head and stalked away. She went to the library and found a deserted section. She put her head on her knees and began to cry.

_I can't handle this!_ Kari said to herself. _I don't want to have a destiny! I want to do my Arithmacy, date Ron and graduate! That's all. No stupid lies about which house I'm in, no nightmares, and most especially no stupid headmasters who insist that I do things that I don't want to do!_ Kari stopped crying and sniffled, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands. She looked at her watch. She had a half an hour before she had to get to class, and so she came out of the back of the Library. Ron, Harry and Hermione were sitting in front of the fireplace, looking up something for their Defense Against the Dark Arts homework. Kari joined them, slipping into an unused chair.

"So, when Quidditch practice does start up, do you think I should go for Keeper again" Ron was asking Harry, as Harry was flipping through a large volume full of curses and blocks.

"Yeah, you're loads better than you were last year." Harry didn't look up, but an impish smile stretched his mouth. "I mean, I can't see how you could get any worse unless you start playing for the other team." Ron shot him an annoyed glance and threw a wadded up piece of paper at him.

"That's unfair. I wasn't that bad. I saved a couple of goals." Ron said, and Hermione just smiled, deigning not to comment. Ron turned to Kari. "Do you play Quidditch"

"No. I don't know how to fly." Kari said quietly. She was never an outside type of person, and clambering on a broomstick that would take you far over the surface never really had much appeal to her. The trio apparently thought that this was a bad thing. Hermione dropped her quill, Ron dropped his wand and reduced the table to about half of its original size and Harry dropped the book he was holding with a dull thud. She paused for a moment as the three of them gaped at her and then sighed. "I'm afraid of heights."

"Oh." Said Hermione, looking thoughtful. She quickly returned the table to its original size.

"You're _kidding_." Exclaimed Ron as he picked his wand back up.

"No." Kari said, taking a deep breath. "I'm not." Kari was suddenly distracted by someone throwing open the library doors with a white face. It was Neville Longbottom.

"Harry! Ron! Hermione" He called, when he spotted them. "You'll never guess what I just heard" Madam Pince looked down at him from over her glasses disapprovingly. "Three students have gone missing! Two from Hufflepuff and Susan Bones from Ravenclaw." Kari didn't know Susan Bones, but she was immediately reminded of her dream. Ron glanced over at her and then looked again with concern.

"Kari? Kari are you alright" She could hear his voice as if from far away and there was a roaring sound in her ears.

"Yeah...I'm fine." Her voice sounded dull and as if through a fog.

"You're paler than the ghosts, are you sure that you're alright" Hermione asked, her voice full of concern.

"Fine...fine." She said, snapping back into focus. She forcibly made her hands unclench where they were wrapped around her bag's strap. "I think I'm going to go to my class now..." Her voice was faint and she wasn't even sure she was talking. She gathered her books in that leaden stupor and wafted off to class, leaving four very confused teenagers behind. To tell the truth, she was confused as well. The shock finally wore off and she settled back down to routine. A week rolled by.

Poor poor Kari…And yes, I realize that Snape is a little strange, but he has to have SOME weakness don't you think?

Please, if you care, caffinate! Or at least review…


	3. Revelations and Blackmail

Disclaimer: I disclaim! Disclaim you, disclaim your family, disclaim your cow, and most importantly disclaim Harry Potter.

However, I do jealously hold Kari, and all the other slytherin girls in her room, ask before you use them.

Chapitre III

Revalations and blackmail

_Mandragora._ Kari was memorizing the list for the potion that they were making in Potions, trying to remember the things that Neville had mentioned that he did wrong. She was heading for an unused classroom so she could study, this potion was worth a quarter of her final grade and if she could get a perfect on it, she would be able to pull her grade up. _Mandragora, a teaspoon of Mugwort, stir three times in the clock wise direction..._She opened the door to the classroom, still deep in thought. _Add a dash of newts liver, a Ginny trying to suck Harry's face off..._ She paused. That didn't seem right. She focused in on what was actually going on around her instead of what was floating in her head and her jaw dropped. There was a brilliantly scarlet Harry with dropping his arms from around an equally red Ginny. Kari closed her mouth and grinned.

"Ginny, you look like a sunburned radish." She said, nodding hello at the both of them. She backed out of the room, looking up what was supposed to be going next in the potion. She shut the door with her foot and then paused. And burst out laughing. Ginny and Harry were hissing at each other, obviously trying to blame the other for their misfortune. Kari was holding onto the doorway to keep herself from falling over and gasping for breath. She ambled off and headed towards the library to check the last bit of the potion with Hermione to make sure that she got it right. She heard the door to the room open and close and then two sets of footsteps went in opposite directions. One caught up with her.

It was Ginny.

"Hallo." Kari said absently, ticking off the ingredients with her fingers.

"Ummmm, hallo Kari." Ginny began uncomfortably.

"You know, I was going to use that room to study." Kari remarked offhandedly. Ginny flushed a brilliant red again. "But the shock of you two completely branded the ingredients of the potion into my brain and all I have to do is run it by Hermione to make sure I got it right."

"Look," Ginny looked very uncomfortable. "Can you not tell anyone about this? Ron'll tease the both of us something awful." Kari made as if zipping her mouth shut.

"My lips are sealed." She said, smiling at her red headed friend. She gave Ginny a sly look. "Though it's not as though we can't tell, you two watch each other all the time and Harry bristles every time guys look at you. It's not that hard to figure out." Ginny looked embarrassed.

"Still, Ron's pretty thick, so I don't think he'll get it for a while."

"I'll say." Kari said rolling her eyes. "That boy is thicker than a board."

"Still not getting anywhere?" Ginny asked sympathetically.

"Circles."

"What?"

"I feel like I'm running in circles and getting nowhere. The faster I run, the faster I get nowhere." Kari said glumly. They had reached the library and Ginny patted her on the shoulder.

"I'm sure if you keep trying you'll finally get through to him." Ginny said, cheerful.

"I guess I can question the hickeys as to you're expertise." Kari said, raising her eyebrows and wiggling them lavisciously. Ginny clapped a hand to her neck and looked sheepish.

"Do I really have hickeys?"

"Nah, I'm just messing with you." Kari said, laughing. "See you later."

"Bye."

Kari strode into the library, looking for Hermione. Instead she ran into Ron. Literally. He helped her to her feet like a gentleman of course and she squinted up at him. "You know, for a guy as big as you are, you sure blend in a lot." Ron laughed.

"I'm invisible." He joked; holding his hands over his eyes and Kari strode forward to where Hermione was sitting.

"Hermione, I need you to tell me if I have the potion right." Hermione put down her books and looked up attentively. Kari rattled it off and Hermione applauded.

"Good! Now if only you can remember to stick to those instructions..." Hermione gave her a playful glare.

"Yeah, but they've been branded into my brain by some pretty memorable stuff." Hermione scrutinized her for a moment and Ron collapsed into one of the chairs.

"You walked in on Ginny and Harry." Hermione said, her voice weary. Ron sat bolt upright.

"WHAT!" Ron asked, but they both ignored him.

"Yup." Kira said, shaking her head. "Like vacuum cleaners I swear." She said exasperated.

"What about Harry and Ginny?" Ron wailed, waving his arms about.

"Well, I've got class in ten minutes, I have to go. Thanks Hermione!" Kari said, skipping out of the Library.

"_What _about Harry and Ginny?"

Kari laughed and left Hermione to deal with the enraged Ron and went to her class. Professor Flitwick was as excitable as ever and fell off of his chair when he was discussing the newest spell that Kari wasn't paying attention to. She'd ask Draco later. She twirled her wand absently around in her fingers, ignoring the feeling that by not paying attention in this class...ever... it was probably going to be a detriment to her school career. Whatever. Kari said, shrugging. Professor Flitwick assigned them all animals and she was handed a rather large raven to try and silence. She and the raven eyed each other balefully for a moment, not entirely sure what the other was going to do. Kari watched the other students for a moment and then Flitwick as he demonstrated the spell. She turned to the raven. It glared at her.

"You'll never master this stupid spell while staring at me." It cawed derisively. Kari goggled at the raven.

"I-uh-wha?" Kari blinked and then shook her head. She was obviously imagining things.

"Don't just ignore me, that's rather rude." The Raven cawed, pecking her hand. She screeched and fell out of her chair, landing on the floor with a thud. When the class saw she was holding a pecked hand that was beginning to bleed, they returned to their work and Flitwick waded his way through. "Fine, apparently you aren't willing to accept how strange your life is going to get yet, I only have one piece of advice for you. Remember the dreams. Record them, I don't care, but find a way to remember them." It pecked her once more as Flitwick tried to catch it and then flew at the window. Right as it would have reached the glass, it vanished. The class was silent.

"Professor?" Kari said in a trembling voice as she raised her hand slightly. "May I go see the Headmaster, I think I'm going mad."

"Nonsense, you've got a bite on your hand. Go see Madame Pompfry and she'll make you right as rain." His voice was forcibly cheerful, but there was also a steely edge of anxiety to it. The students caught it and began to murmur among themselves. "Wynne, accompany Mason to the Infirmary please." Brangienne rose and looked distastefully at Kari's hand that was dripping blood all over the floor from two large holes in her hand. The raven had taken a good part of her skin with him when he left.

"Must I Professor? She's making an awful mess." Brangienne said, and Kari started to cry as the shock began to wear off and her hand began to _hurt_.

"_Now _Wynne!" Flitwick said sharply and the whole class gasped, Flitwick had not snapped at a student that any of them could remember. He must have been extremely agitated by the Raven to get angry at a student. Brangienne took hold of Kari and dragged her out of the room in a huff, pulling her along the corridors. A steady stream of blood followed her as it dripped from her mutilated hand. Filch, the janitor, was going to _kill _her. Brangienne opened the door for her to the Infirmary, trying not to look at her year mate's damaged hand, but still looking queasy at the trail of blood. Kari was now swaying on her feet as the loss of blood affected her motor skills. The room was swimming in front of her and she lost control, pitching forward.

Strong, capable hands caught her and eased her onto the bed that had seemed so far away only seconds ago.

"...Care of Magical Creat...suppose..." There was a conversation going on over her head and it faded in and out as she was hit with waves of nausea and or pain.

"...Charms...Flitwick..." Someone was sounding outraged and the other sniffed.

"Could...guessed...nough sense to fill a pin..." Someone sat her up and made her take something vile tasting. "Could have at least bound it."

Her head was clearing a little and she looked down at her hand. It was still bleeding furiously, pumping blood out of her body. She looked into the basin that her hand was suspended over and nearly lost control of her stomach. There was at least a quart of blood in the bucket. Madame Pomfry was pouring a potion over her hand and frowning. Kari, as the blood was pumping out of her, began to feel the chill of the room and started to shake. The basin began to quiver and the liquid to slosh around.

"Here Child." Madame Pomfry said, handing her a white fluffy blanket. Kari tucked it around herself silently, watching the blood puddle in the basin from her left hand. It was a dark red, almost black, and was congealing on the spot. Kari was no expert in healing, but she was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to do that.

"Ummmm Madame Pomfry?" Kari asked, staring at her hand.

"Yes?" The nurse asked, agitated.

"Why isn't my hand healing?" Kari asked, trying to scratch an itch on her palm by rubbing it on the edge of the basin and accomplished nothing more than getting blood all over the inside of the basin.

"I don't know." She said and left for a moment. Kari watched the blood leak out of her hand and began to count the drops, doing arithmacy problems in her head to keep from panicking. It wasn't every day you watched your lifeblood drain out through two holes in your hand. Madame Pomfry put a potion next to her that smelled slightly of eggs and sighed. "I've never seen anything like this, it refuses to heal!" Madame Pomfry was almost crying with frustration. She handed Kari the egg smelling potion.

"What's this?" Kari asked, eyeing it distrustfully.

"A blood-replenishing potion. You're going to need it, seeing as your leaking out through your hand." Madame Pomfry's tone was brisk, but her eyes were worried. Kari gulped it down and then pulled a face at the taste. It tasted vile. "Ergh." Kari said pulling a face, but Madame Pomfry just ignored her, examining her hand. Eventually the elderly matron sighed.

"I'd better go get Dumbledore." She said and immediately vacated, ignoring Kari's protestations. A few minutes later, Dumbledore strode in. He was smiling.

"Shut it, you." Kari snapped as Dumbledore entered the room. He merely stopped in the middle of the floor, twiddled his thumbs for a moment and then stared out into space for a few seconds.

"I have become momentarily deaf to your insubordinate words and will merely write them off as the pain speaking. How is your hand." She smiled maliciously and held it out for him to examine, dripping blood all over the sheets. He raised a noble eyebrow and she retreated to the bowl, muttering.

"It won't heal, will it?" Kari asked shrewdly, judging the situation by Dumbledore's face. He frowned.

"There seems to be some kind of locking charm." Dumbledore turned her hand to the light so he could see it better. He prodded it with his wand and a line of sigils rose off of her hand like smoke and then dissipated just as quickly. His eyebrows shot up to his hairline. A smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. "I expect that you have to do whatever the person bound you to." Dumbledore was smiling indulgently and Kari rolled her eyes.

"Whatever." She said, scrabbling at her bedside. "Oy, headmaster, do you have a spare bit of parchment and ink I could borrow?" She reached back and pulled her quill out of her bushy hair that she had impaled it in earlier. Dumbledore handed her the asked for items without an admonishment as to her disrespectful words, going down the 'if I ignore it, she will find out that it doesn't bother me and will stop' route. Unfortunetly, that never worked with Kari. She took the parchment and ink and began to write. She tucked her tounge into the side of her mouth as she wrote down every detail that she could remember about her dreams.

The bleeding slowed, then stopped.

"Well, that seemed to have healed it nicely." Dumbledore beamed at her and she snorted. She washed her hands off with the goblet of water that was by her bed and then dried them on her uniform robes. "Well, that's that. Give it a few days to heal, I don't think that the regular potions are going to work on these ones... What class do you have next?" Dumbledore asked, as she put her bag on over her head.

"Care of Magical Creatures." She said, putting her wand back in her pocket. Dumbledore broke into a smile.

"Perhaps you should take the next period off?" He suggested, smiling at her. She looked at him, looked at the just stopped bleeding wounds in her hand and her lips twisted into a sardonic smile.

"Perhaps I may." She gathered her stuff and headed to the library. She scratched the wounds on her hand distractedly and sat down with Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione.

"Hallo." She said, sliding into the only vacant seat, taking off her book bag and slinging it onto the table. Hermione nodded welcome, Ron smiled, and Harry and Ginny actually looked away from each other long enough that they said hello with warm smiles on their faces.

"What's that?" Ron asked, pulling her hand into the light. Ginny slid her hand along Harry's arm to rest her fingertips lightly on her boyfriend's hand.

"I got a bad bite off of a flobberworm." Kari said flippiantly, but not withdrawing her hand from Ron's. Hermione looked from Ron to her to Harry and Ginny absorbed in each other and groaned.

"Dear Merlin, what am I? A fifth wheel?" She said, combing her fingers through her out of control curls. Ron dropped Kari's hand as if it were a branding iron and Ginny stuck out her tongue at the brainy girl. Harry merely looked amused and looked at Ron and Kari specutavely.

"Kari, hey Kari!" Padma was beckoning her from across the hall, trying to get her help on the arithmacy problem she was doing. Kari rose, her cheeks and nose burning a brilliant scarlet, avoiding Ron's eyes. She quickly answered Padma's question and the older girl grinned at her.

"You fancy Ron, don't you." She asked, grinning broadly at her bold compatriot. Kari flushed a deep crimson.

"Is it really that obvious!" She whispered, putting her head closer to the Ravenclaw's.

"Absolutely. Oh," Padma said nodding. She looked thoughtful. "I went with him to the Yule Ball in fourth year, I wouldn't recommend dancing with him." She smiled wryly and Kari giggled.

"That bad huh?" She asked, covering her mouth, and blushing when she looked over at Ron and saw he was looking at her too.

"Worse." Padma said and Parvarti chipped in.

"That's all right, you may want to warn Ginny, Harry's even worse." Parvarti smiled at her, putting her elbows on the table.

"You dated Harry?" Kari asked, shocked. She couldn't see the two of them as a couple.

"Kind of. I went to the ball with him fourth year because he had no one else to go with and he could trust me not to try and haul him off to molest him." She looked over where Ginny was poking Harry in the ribs. "I kinda wish that I had. He's rather handsome now." Parvarti smiled and Lavander Brown giggled.

"In a brooding dark sort of way. Sort of like Malfoy. Though not as mean of course." Lavendar tittered.

"Draco isn't mean." Kari said loyally, though she knew that her cousin could be cruel to people that he didn't like. The three girls shot her disbelieving looks. She shrunk into herself. "Well, he's never mean to me."

"Right." Parvarti and Padma said, both of them dripping doubt. Padma turned to her. "Soooooo? Are you going to ask him out?"

"Ummmm, no." Kari said, shifting in her seat uncomfortably.

"Whyever not?" Padma said, her eybrows vanishing into her dark hair.

"Because even if I did think that he would say yes, I'm too shy." She said, and Lavendar laughed.

"Girl, you don't have to worry about whether he likes you or not, it soooo obvious he wants you!" Lavendar said happily and Padma and Parvarti started giggling. Hermione came over.

"I agree. I'm one of his best friends and so I know, he does really like you." Hermione said, pulling up a chair.

"Why? I'm not as pretty as you or as smart, why doesn't he like you?" Kari asked, startled.

"One," Hermione ticked off on her fingers. "You're not, lets see, what are his words? Oh, an insufferable Know-it-all, two, you _are_ pretty no matter what you think, and three, Harry thinks that we should go out, and that is a tell tale sign that it is a _bad_ idea." All of the girls burst into giggles at this statement. Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly! He thinks that Sinestra should go out with Snape." The rest of the girls gaped at her.

"Are. you. serious?" Kari asked in a strangled voice. Parvarti and Lavendar looked deeply disturbed and Padma was shaking with disgust.

"Ewwwwwwww!" Parvarti and Lavender wailed, incurring the glare of Madame Pince.

"So." Kari asked slowly. "Just how mentally disturbed is Harry? Because I know that the Daily Prophet has been saying stuff like that for years, but I seriously think that could be constituted as proof." The girls all laughed. Kari checked her watch and sighed.

"Lovely as this talk has been, I have to get to my next class, I got to skivv off Care of Magical Creatures because Dumbledore didn't want me to have quite that much of an interesting day." She waved and then headed off to Ancient Runes.

"No, Ginny." Kari said exasperated. She liked her friend, she really did, but she was being completely insane.

"I agree with her." Padma said, putting in her two cents worth.

"Me too." Parvarti and then Lavendar piped up.

"C'mon it wouldn't be that hard!" Lavendar wailed.

"Oh c'mon Kari." Hermione said, looking at her as well.

"I enjoy my right to blackmail, but I only use it in cases of emergency." Kari said, sitting in her chair primly.

"Its to earn galleons for our seventh year trip!" Lavendar said, bouncing slightly. Kari eyed them distastefully.

"Exactly, so I see no reason why I have to do anything. I'm not one of your year mates." Kari said, crossing her legs, looking smug.

"Karrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii..." Parvarti whined.

"Make it worth my while, and I'll think about it." Kari said and Ginny rolled her eyes. Kari could tell what was going through her mind. '_Always a Slytherin'_. Kari bared her teeth, if they were going to treat her as a Slytherin, then, by Merlin, she was going to act like one. Parvarti looked thoughtful.

"I can guarantee a way to get Ron to ask you out." Padma and Lavendar looked at Parvarti. She was leaning back in her chair.

"How?" Kari looked wary.

"How's this, I'll tell Hermione and she'll tell me if its a good idea or not." Kari looked thoughtful for a moment and then nodded. Hermione was very sensible. Parvarti leaned over and whispered in Hermione's ear. Hermione nodded.

"Its a good idea." She said, nodding. Kari sat for a moment, deep in thought, love for her cousin warring with her love for Ron.

"I accept." Kari said, getting up. "We will have a Malfoy kissing booth in the school festival."

The school festival was something that Dumbledore had come up with at the beginning of the term to help lift the spirits of the students at Christmas time. Kari was privately of the opinion that Dumbledore did it so he could see the psychological scarrage of his students. She had missed its announcement at the welcoming dinner, and hadn't found out about it until the girls brought it to her attention that she was their route to a winning display. Hermione must have mentioned her blackmailation of Draco and Parvarti and Lavendar, with their obsession of Malfoy must have had come up with the idea. Ginny and Hermione both thought the idea was hysterical. Now there was only the subject himself to win over.

"No. Absolutely not." Draco said, his pale face flushing scarlet. She watched him with an almost scientific fascination.

"For future reference, scarlet does not go with pale blonde." Draco looked at her, annoyed.

"Thank you. I know that." He said, acerbically, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Oh come on, you know you're gorgeous." Draco gave her a withering glare.

"Of course I know. I haven't been cutting a swath through the Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff girls for nothing."

"Hufflepuffs too?" Kari was momentarily pulled off track.

"They work well in groups." Draco shot her a I'm-being-a-bastard-just-for-you-smirk.

"Ewwwwwwww..." Draco laughed.

"Just kidding."

"Because we both know that you haven't slept with anyone yet." Draco tried to look offended, but just looked embarrassed.

"Haven't met anyone to catch my high standards." He mumbled, looking at the floor. For all he was a snarky bastard at times, he was also a sixteen year old boy.

"Soooo..." She shot him a I-can-be-just-as-evil-as-you grin. "Use this opportunity to find one."

"You are extremely evil sometimes." He sounded so proud. "No."

"I was hoping that it wouldn't have to go to this..." Kari said, her voice saturated with faux sadness and Draco eyed her with trepidation.

"What?" He asked, suspiciously.

"You know, the rhinestones may not even be enough for this. I may have to break out the big guns." A mischievous smile that would have made Snape hide underneath a cauldron. Thankfully, Draco had been hardened to her whiles.

"What?" Draco asked curiously. She grinned at him for a moment, giving him a look that made him feel like a cow ripe for the slaughter.

"Baby pictures." Kari said, her voice smothered in satisfaction. Draco looked at her, horrified.

"You wouldn't." He said this in a mortified whisper and Kari laughed

"Soooooo would. One owl to you're mother and I can have them here within a day." Draco was looking at her strangely. She looked at him curiously. "What?"

"I never thought I would see the day." Malfoy said, shaking his head.

"Huh?"

"I think that you have surpassed me in evil Slytherin cruelness." Draco said, a speck of awe coloring his voice. Kari looked rather flattered.

"Well thank you." She said, a somewhat surprised look on her face. "So, does that mean that you'll do it?" Malfoy gave her another look.

"Sure. Why not." He said, shrugging. Kari threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.

Parvarti and Lavendar would not stop squealing after that, and even Hermione and Ginny looked bemused.

hee hee hee...ginny the vixen...malfoy kissing booth...things are looking interesting! please please please read and review.


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